An Assumption album

A little album of shrines of Mary I have visited,  in no particular order...

Our Lady of Sorrows, patroness of Granada, Spain

Our Lady of Chartres, France 

Our Lady of Czestochowa, Patroness of Poland 

Our Lady of Fatima, Portugal 

Our Lady of Knock, Ireland 

Our Lady of Loreto, in the Holy House, Italy 



 

Our Lady of Lourdes,  France 

Our Lady "La Macarena", Seville, Spain







 

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Rue du Bac, Paris

Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth

Our Lady of Penrhys, Rhondda, Wales

Our Lady of Pontmain, Normandy,  France

Our Lady of the Rocks, Kotor, Montenegro

Our Lady, Salus Populi Romani,   Rome

Our Lady of the Taper,  Cardigan, Wales

Our Lady of Walsingham, England 

Our Lady of Montserrat,  Catalonia, Spain 

House of Mary, Ephesus, Turkey







 

Our Lady of Good Counsel, Genazzano, Italy

Our Lady of Perpetual Help or Succour,  Rome 

Our Lady of Medjugorje, Herzegovina 

Our Lady at the Gates of Dawn, Vilnius,  Lithuania

Notre-Dame-du-Cap,  Our Lady of the Cape,  Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada 

On The Way again

Flicking through i-Player I noticed that they had the film "The Way" from 2010. I've seen it before and we also showed it at one of our film nights in St Brigid's.  I like it a lot, and so I sat down to watch it again. It sort of creeps up on you, like the characters in the film creep up on each other. 

Martin Sheen (left) plays a California ophthalmologist whose son dies following the Camino to Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain. He decides to complete his son's journey carrying his ashes. The film was written, produced and directed by Sheen's real life son Emilio Estevez, who also plays the son in the film.

On one level not much happens, but on another it all happens, as Sheen and three fellow pilgrims (right) slowly open up to each other as they walk along, each with several layers of reasons why they are making the pilgrimage. There are several very funny and many very moving moments, including of course their arrival at the doors of the cathedral-shrine of St James at Santiago.

This evening we had the pre-journey meeting for our 2017 September Pilgrimage that I have been involved with since 1990. Why do I go?  Why does a pilgrimage work?  Journeys, both outer and inner, sharing, good company, a kind of trip up from ordinary life to Mt Tabor for a temporary parting of the curtains? I don't really know - the understanding is in the doing, and many have come sceptical, dismissing a pilgrimage as somehow old hat or superstitious. Only to find - what? Peace, relaxation, a deeper spirit, themselves... 

Never dismiss pilgrimages if you have never been on one - 2000 years of Christianity and centuries of such journeys in other faiths before, can't all be wrong.

Below - Mass at the cave-house of the Annunciation, Nazareth 

His storm as well as ours

In the Gospel today Jesus walks out across the water when he sees that the apostles are struggling in  a storm on the Sea of Galilee. However, the story takes on more depth when we remember what happens immediately before in St Matthew's gospel.  Jesus had just heard the news of John the Baptist's tragic death - John his relative, who had baptised him, who had pointed him out as the Lamb of God, who had handed his two disciples over to him, etc etc.

I think we sometimes underestimate the humanity of Jesus in our desire to remember his divinity. This bereavement must have been profound, so we are not surprised to find Jesus wanting to be on his own. But the crowds follow him, and this leads to him preachng to them and then feeding the 5,000+ who have gathered. Eventually, the crowd disperses and he and the disciples are left alone. This is where our Gospel starts, and we find him taking a second attempt at getting time on his own, as he sends the apostles off over the lake. 

So, Jesus takes several hours alone - or not alone, as this is time for communion with his Father in prayer. We shouldn't assume that all this was made oh-so-easy because "he is God after all". He was "like us in all things but sin" a prayer says. This wasn't part of the path laid out he may well have been thinking - why? why?  That's what we ask when faced with such tragedy. 

Perhaps it's after regaining  his composure after his emotional storm that he sees that it is now the apostles  - us - who are panicking in a storm. So he hastens to them taking the direct route across the water. I notice then that he doesn't wait to arrive at the boat and calm everything as he did on another occasion. Instead, he invites Peter out on to the stormy waters of life. Most often God does not take away our storms, especially not the man-made ones. By inviting Peter to join him, he tells us that we can do it - we can walk across the waters of life. We can do it as long as we keep our eyes on him. And even if we can't, he is there to hold us as he did Peter.

I think this had a huge impact on Peter. When he and John heal the cripple after Pentecost, Peter helps him up, perhaps holding him fast, just as Jesus had held him on that day when the storm blew and he, a fisherman from Galilee, walked on water.

A glimpse of the 13th century

It's St Clare's feast today. Hard to imagine church life without the many women's religious orders out in the world, teaching, nursing, in parish ministry etc.  None of this was really possible in Clare's time, the early 13th century.  So when she was inspired by the ten years older St Francis, perhaps wanting to be out in the community like him, she couldn't.  Instead, Francis gave her the chapel of San Damiano, on the slope below his beloved Assisi, where Francis heard the Lord speak to him from the Crucifix. This would become her home, from which the Poor Clares spread out across Christendom.

San Damiano is still one of the places we can get a flavour of that first Franciscan simplicity. The small chapel (right), where a replica of the Crucifix hangs, the refectory, or dining room (below right) where her place is marked always by a bowl of flowers, the small balcony garden she tended, the dormitory (left) in whose corner she slept. These are all imbued with her spirit. 

Lastly I can't show San Damiano without Francis himself. The last picture is the modern statue of Francis sat in the fields around San Damiano, watching and meditating. He is looking out over the Umbrian plains to the hills.  Who knows, maybe he is looking out to Cardiff where his followers, called the Grey Friars in Britain, would soon reach and settle in the spot now commemorated in two street names, Greyfriars Road and the Friary. I can remember the ruins of the house built by the Herbert family on the site of, and out of the stones of, the Franciscan friary. 

I have been to Assisi many times, both on day trips from Rome and to stay, on pilgrimages. It is amazing how it manages to absorb large numbers of visitors yet still preserve that calm. If you haven't been, make every effort...

Of roods and foods

As it's the relatively quiet time of August - schools out, parishioners on holiday - I thought I might give the old blog a whirl.  Talking of August, I was really glad of the lovely weather today as I had arranged to go on a  small "church crawl" with a friend who is equally, if more knowledgeably, interested in old churches and cathedrals.

We set off for the Usk area of Monmouthshire, and first call was the tiny church of Bettws Newydd. Plain on the outside, nevertheless I fell in love with the place even before going in, as the path to the church passes under an absolutely enormous yew tree. Noone knows how old it is - 500 or 1,000 or even 2,000 years. A new trunk has grown up inside the old one which has decayed into fantastical shapes.

Once inside the church, the main reason for visiting spreads itself across the width of the church. A rood-screen complete from about 1500 except for the actual figures of the Crucifixion. The books say this makes it unique in Wales and England. The oak was dark, the air was still except for someone mowing the grass in the churchyard. The holiness hung in the air...

But soon it was time for food as well as roods. I was treated to lunch at The Hardwick, led by top chef Stephen Terry (below), it is one of Wales' top restaurants, outside Abergavenny  on the old A40 to Monmouth. Yum! I fancied pork belly and black pudding as per menu: "Deep Fried Pork Belly & Black Pudding, Pickled White Cabbage, Apple & Mustard Sauce" The waiter helpfully warned me not to expect a slab of meat and pile of black pudding. Instead these would be thinly layered and fried in a very thin sort of batter.  I went for it... helped by a glass of Rioja. Having skipped a starter I felt entitled to a dessert : "Valrhona Chocolate Mousse, Honeycombe & Salted Caramel". Oooooh boy. Fr M approves big-time.

Time to get back to roods after foods. Somehow we found our way to nearby Llangwm Uchaf, lost down another country lane - possibly the reason why this and Bettws Newydd escaped the ravages of the Reformation. Not quite as captivating as Bettws Newydd in my opinion, nevertheless we were treated yto more wonderful carving from that period when some historians would tell us that the Catholic Church was full of corruption etc.  There is nothing corrupt about these rood screens that have come down to us  beauty hidden down Monmouthshire country lanes. Take a look if you want a different day out.

From ashes to fire

We have embarked together on our Lenten journey. It will take us right through to Holy Week and Easter, and beyond – to Pentecost. On Wednesday I spoke at Masses about a strange feature of this season that has fascinated me for a few years now.
In life a fire will often produce ashes, we go from fire to ashes. In this Lent and Easter season we go from ashes to fire. We have started by showing the ashes of our humanity, and way ahead on 4th June we will celebrate the fire of the Holy Spirit on the great feast of Pentecost. Isn’t that strange? It’s as if God is saying “This is my way of doing things”. It reminds me of that hymn which talking of the Lord “turning the world upside down”. It’s only if we accept our “ashfulness” that we can be open to the transforming fire of the Holy Spirit.

Someone pointed out to me that we can take it further if we add in the wood of the Cross on Good Friday.  So now instead of applying fire to wood to produce ash, we apply the wood of Jesus’s Cross to our ashes and  are taken into the fire.  Jesus tells Nicodemus in John 3:16 that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. Through the Cross the ashes of our sins are removed, and  we are prepared to be set alight by God’s very own Spirit.
Enjoy the journey!
Follow our parish Lenten journey  "Walking with Jesus" here.

A Lenten Journey Together

This Lent we are inviting parishioners to join us on a "Journey with Jesus". Each day we will post a reflection, prayer or thought for Lent. Why don't you join us - just click here to go there...

Perdecost

Happy feast day Church!

I was at Christ the King this weekend for Pentecost. After 10.30 Mass one of the children presented me with her artwork. Being half-term there was no Children's Liturgy, but she had still got really involved, and put her thoughts into this picture. As you will realise that is me, Farther, in the middle celebrating Mass in the red vestments of the feast of "Perdecost".  The Holy Spirit is in the air and love seems to be falling from the heavens - very profound!

But it's what is coming out of my mouth that amused and inspired : "Good News". She certainly got it, and as always - "out of the mouth of children..."  So I hope that Love falls out of the sky for you, and that inspired by the Holy Spirit of Perdecost, you will speak, and be, Good News.

Post Easter post

A day of feeling a bit miserable with a cold. I made it through the winter without one, but at last the lurgy caught up with me...  So I'm taking the opportunity to catch up here.

Well, first - back to Holy Week and Easter.  My favourite service this year was the Easter Vigil at St Brigid's. It was a truly joyful celebration - why? I'm not too sure, other than the fact that we are remembering and underlining that Jesus lives! The singing, the candles... everything was just right and I came away fully immersed in the joy of the Resurrection. 

Then, there was Celebrate at Corpus Christi School last weekend. This too was great, and my lasting memory will be of the number of children and young people present, 98 out of 300 I'm told. And two of the three speakers were under 40 too, including Will Desmond aged 23 (right) and telling it like it is to the crowd. Great weekend if very tiring as I have to fit it round my parish duties. 

Next - the election.  I could have made a lot of money on this one as I predicted that the Conservatives would win with more seats than before. Why? Because I think there are a lot of what one article this week called "shy Conservatives". There are many areas of life where it's not done to not be leftish... including parts of the Church. I think that many people if asked by friend or pollster wouldn't "own up", but then vote according to what they really thought. By the way, I'm not necessarily including myself among them, I usually don't disclose my voting. It reminds me a little of the election of Pope Francis. How may cardinals would have owned up before the election to how they were thinking, even if Cardinal Bergoglio wasn't specifically in their sights?

Lastly, two reviews, the first for a long time. The Penylan Pantry in Kimberley Road just outside our 3 Churches area. Went for coffee there with some parishioners, and enjoyed it a lot. A small place, on a corner of Blenheim Road, very.um, Penylan with a deli as part of the set-up. I'm amuse that Penylan, an area I just think of as my childhood home, is now very much des-res territory. Very friendly and welcoming, though my fruit loaf/bara brith took quite a while to come...

And then there was Il Pastificio where I was invited to supper. Currently number 3 in TripAdvisor this is a wonderful Italian restaurant at the beginning of Wellfield Road where the Globe Cinema was several lifetimes ago. A little small, like the Pantry and unprepossessing from the outside. Also a little tight inside to get everyone in - but this place must go straight into my top ten, right from the welcome when you arrive, the guided tour of the specials from the head chef (below), but most of all the quality of the food - simply scrummy. But be careful, book, because it's become very popular very quickly - and quite rightly so!

A mother and her Son

The Lord's Supper

At the Mass of the Lord's Supper I emphasised that we are to find ourselves in the Holy Week story, to make connections with our own lives. I recalled how feet have played a big part in my last twelve months or so. I have worked my way through 1 GP, 2 practise nurses, 2 podiatrists, 1 ulcer specialist, 1 insole person and one shoe person. So the idea of Jesus wanting to tend to my feet has been pretty close to home. And he is there all the time...  Again I recalled that I had renewed my priestly promises at the Chrism Mass on Wednesday on my anniversary of ordination, and that over those years I have celebrated Mass around 15,000 times. At every one of those, any priest worth his salt is overwhelmed with a sense of unworthiness. 

For the Watching until midnight our good flower ladies in St Brigid's, where I was, create a kind of shrine where we place the ciborium in full view, rather than in a tabernacle. I find this has a great impact on us all, somehow much more direct.  Coming up to midnight I lead a time of intercession for our parishes, the Church, and the world, with an opportunity for people to ask the Lord to remember those whose names they mention out loud. Then, with the kiss of Judas barely audible in the midnight silence, we all depart.

Judas and priests

Today, traditionally known as Spy Wednesday, I spoke about Judas. So why did Judas do it?  It's hard enough to understand our own motives sometimes, let alone those of others. "Wolf Hall" recently challenged many people's view of St Thomas More, for example, and gave a more nuanced view of Thomas Cromwell himself. So how hard is it to get inside the head of the Betrayer?

We have only the Gospels as our sources, and two of them were written by apostles who were there... Was it because "Satan entered him",  and what about that dipping of the finger? Was Judas predestined to do the deed - and, if so, can he truly be blamed... And, of course, he threw the money on the floor - a hint of repentance/remorse? In the end, he seems to have lacked hope, to me the forgotten of the three virtues of faith, hope and charity. After all, Peter betrayed Jesus in a way, too - but stuck with it...

Judas was a mess, but perhaps in that he tells us something about ourselves, and about Jesus. After all, he was one of the apostles throughout those three years of Jesus' ministry. The Word became flesh in the human race, despite its messiness, to shine a light, that in the light of knowing Him we might know ourselves too, find faith, build hope and show love.

Today has been the 37th anniversary of my priestly ordination April 1st 1978 here at St Brigid's. Later in the morning I had the enormous pleasure of taking part in the Chrism Mass with our archbishop, priests and people. Along with all the priests present I renewed my priestly promises undertaken at ordination. A fitting way to celebrate the anniversary...